The present disclosure relates to turbomachines, and more particularly to a compliant seal component for turbomachines and an associated method for cooling the compliant seal component.
Seal components, such as a compliant seal component, which can operate at high operating temperatures may be desirable in many industrial applications to efficiently control leakage of fluid. For example, a shroud and a nozzle assembly of a gas turbine engine, which are exposed to the high operating temperatures in a turbomachine, may include the compliant seal component to control leakage of the fluid between a hot flow path of the turbomachine and a turbomachine cavity of the turbomachine. In such an application, a cooling fluid is typically supplied from an external fluid source for cooling the compliant seal component. However, the cooling fluid may not be effective in cooling portions of the compliant seal component that are in contact with the turbomachine, thereby resulting in creep and degradation of the compliant seal component over the duration of use. The degraded or creeped compliant seal component may inadvertently cause increased leakage of the cooling fluid into the main flow path, thereby reducing the efficiency of the turbomachine. Further, the degraded compliant seal component may warrant stoppage of the turbomachine for replacement of the compliant seal component, thus affecting continued operation of the turbomachine. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved compliant seal component.